


This Changes Nothing

by Amledo



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, There will be more tags, This Was Supposed To Be A One Shot, Tony/pepper friendship, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Transitioning, but I have so many ideas, expect a few chapters, trans Pepper
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 06:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2099259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amledo/pseuds/Amledo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Transman Pepper has been wanting to officially come out for some time. But how will Tony amd the rest of the Avengers take it?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inspired by the comic found here------></p>
<p>http://princecanary.tumblr.com/post/93078459965/lol</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He didn’t know why he was nervous, after all, he had known Tony for years. And yet…there remained a heavy weight of fear tied around his ankle. What if Tony reacted badly? 

No, this was Tony Stark. A man that had no filter but possessed a great heart. He was worrying over nothing.

Nodding to himself in agreement with his thoughts he checked himself over in the mirror. Though it didn’t need it, he adjusted his binder and took a deep breath, checking his outline critically. He didn’t have a packer yet, but he thought he pulled off Tony’s old jeans and t-shirt pretty nicely. 

He had purposely picked one of Tony’s randomly chosen casual dress days to do this. He didn’t have any suits that would fit. 

As he walked out of his room with his usual stack of paperwork (homework because his job essentially never ended) he squared his shoulders. It was a bit of work to ignore the itch of the hairs that had clung even after the shower he’d taken to do away with them. Cutting his own hair was officially off his list of things to do, it was the salon from now on.

Oddly, the residence level of newly christened Avengers Tower was quiet. Normally there would have been the sounds of Thor and Loki arguing, Natasha and Clint debating the newest small arms on the market, or Steve counting off pushups. He almost never heard a sound from Bruce, assuming he actually slept on their floor and not in the lab. Rhodey was rarely home, but was typically up well before him even if he had time off. And Tony, well Tony tended to pass out on the couch more than in his own bed.

He shrugged it off in the elevator as it quickly brought him to the top floor. 

As the doors slid open he had to catch his breath and fight the urge to run back to his room. There was still time to pretend he’d just wanted a hair cut.

"Pepper good you’re here…what the…?" Tony paused and blinked in confusion, his coffee frozen halfway to his mouth.  
“Good morning Tony,” he said quietly, and hoped that he wasn’t blushing. 

"Yeah…good morning," he said, still seemingly lost.

"Look, Tony, you know I’ve said before that I’d rather be a guy. Well I meant it in a more serious sense…" he said and mentally cheered that he’d gotten the simple words right. He’d only practiced them for a week plus.

"Yeah, no, I get that. But, umm, one of us is gonna have to change," he said and gestured with his coffee mug to the fact that they’d chosen the same t-shirt. 

"Oh. Wait. That’s it?" Pepper said in disbelief. He’d expected it to go over decently, but this was practically perfect.

"Is there something else? Different name? Pronouns outside the binary? Need time off for reassignment surgery?" Tony asked, setting his mug aside and closing out a new set of schematics to bring up a search engine. Before Pepper found his voice again there were already three doctors pulled up and Tony was scrutinizing their credentials. 

"No, I still like Pepper. He/him is good. And…Tony I just came out. Aren’t you supposed to freak out? Ask me if I’m sure or something? Not just go looking for surgeons," Pepper said, not sure why he wanted a negative reaction, or if he was simply experiencing shock.

"Freak out? Why the Hell would I do that? And I haven’t seen you be unsure of something…like…ever," he flicked his fingers and a doctor was eliminated. "As for the surgery thing. If you don’t want it, cool, great, I just figured you’d be more comfortable with yourself," he said with a shrug. 

He wasn’t paying attention to anything except the holo-screen in front of him until Pepper firmly set his paperwork aside and wrapped his arms around the investor’s middle. Tony grinned and turned to wrap his arms around the red headed man.

"Thanks Tony," Pepper said and squeezed tighter.

"Oh man, Pep, you’re welcome. But we’re going to take you to get something done about that hair. And I imagine you need some new clothes. Can’t have you wandering around in our handmedowns. That’d be unprofessional. And Clint would be awful about the whole out of date fashion thing. What day’s good? Today? Great. Let’s go," Tony talked at a mile a minute as his mind changed tracks.

Pepper sighed and smiled slightly. They weren’t going to get a thing done today, but it had gone so much better than expected that he would let the lack of productivity go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short segue chapter. I know it's a small update,but it's the only thing that I could brbring myself to be satisfied with so far.

To his surprise, Tony had decided that he’d be the one to change his shirt. So for the moment Pepper sat alone in the living room, his eyes fixed on the news station playing on the holo-screen TV. Every few seconds his hand wandered to his newly short hair, his fingers tugged at and rearranged problem areas. Definitely not one of his better ideas.

He flipped the longer bangs back and attempted to keep them off of his face. The last thing he wanted was to start breaking out because his hair was uncooperative. 

"Hello, might I ask who you are and why you are here?" Thor’s voice startled Pepper enough that he half jumped as he turned to look at the blonde god. 

As their eyes met Thor blinked and his confusion seemed to vanish.

"Pepper?" He scratched his head and looked over his shoulder to where Loki was hanging his coat on a hook. "Did my brother have something to do with this transformation? Do you require an apology?" He asked and Pepper smiled brightly, shaking his head.

"No, Thor, I’m responsible. This is just…who I am," he said with a slightly shaky voice, apparently he was more startled than he’d thought. 

"I did not know that it was possible for humans to alter their anatomy as we do," Loki observed casually and it was Pepper’s turn to be confused. 

"You mean get a haircut and bind our chests? Or…" Pepper trailed off and swallowed thickly as before his eyes Loki changed into a woman.

"I was speaking of something more…radical," the now female god said with a tilt of her head.

"N…no, we can’t do that. We have to have surgery and receive hormone treatment to see those kinds of changes," Pepper said, still shocked and amazed at what he’d witnessed.

"Surgery? So you cannot shift your form to suit your present perceptions of yourself?" Loki seemed genuinely offended by the idea.

Pepper shook his head and sighed. 

"Here if people knew that I was born a woman and wanted to become a man, I might not be treated well, and some might choose to ignore it entirely and refuse to use my chosen pronouns. It isn’t viewed as normal to be dissatisfied with the gender you were born with," Pepper explained and horror stole over Thor and Loki’s faces.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another quick update. These will totally be done in chunks as big or as small as my muse will allow. By which I mean, my level of satisfaction. And I'm not satisfied with much that I come up with these days.

"And I'm the monster," Loki seethed, her hands tightening into fists against her thighs. "Jötunn and Asgardian society at least agree on the matter of how to express oneself," she said fiercely. 

Pepper frowned and leveraged himself up from the couch. Rarely did Loki speak of the Frost Giant heritage that had led to her expulsion from Asgardian. But it was more shocking to learn that the creatures that Odin had been willing to destroy at least three of the nine realms to eradicate were more tolerant than humans. 

"To be honest, humans can barely tolerate people with skin of a different color. Breaking from the 'norm' in sexuality or gender identity is a little too much for some people," Pepper explained, hating the way Thor's expression twisted into one of grief. So much did he love earth and the people on it that each new atrocity pained him deeply. 

"We shall endeavor to rectify that," Thor clutched Loki's shoulder tightly. "Won't we, sister?" His face was serious as he spoke and Loki nodded, gripping Thor's hand in response.

"What do you plan to do?" Pepper questioned as Tony strode back into the room and stifled a groan. It figured that he'd come back before Loki resumed a male form.

"I do not know for sure. Not yet. But we can start by accompanying you on your trip to ensure your safety," Thor said with a more satisfied grin.

"Damn right you're coming with, make your own clothes or not, there's no way I'm not going to make you look earth fabulous," the billionaire managed to say, his breathless reaction still evident. Loki grinned, devilishly red lips practically shining in the light. 

Pepper wrapped his arm around Tony's waist, a subtle 'down boy' gesture that he had learned over the years. With a gentle nudge he got Tony moving. They really, really weren't going to get anything done today.


End file.
